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Gig review: Fire In Cairo, Fibbers, 8th Jan 2016

With exams coming up this month, I’ve been hitting the books hard so blogging has had to take a back-seat. (Sorry!) However, I was determined to start 2016 off with some gig action so I took a night off and headed in to Fibbers to see Cure tribute band, Fire In Cairo.

I’ve see FIC before a couple of years back at the Grand Social and really enjoyed them so knew I’d be in for a good night. When I arrived, the support band, Negative Nero were still setting up so I bought a drink, found a seat and sat down to wait.

Negative Nero.

If you’ve ever been to Fibbers, you’ll know that, first and foremost, it’s a rock bar. When Negative Nero kicked off with their opening song, my initial impression was “Oh, they’re a rock band.” But as they continued their set, I could hear very distinctive Cure influences coming through in their sound. Pleasantly surprised, I found myself enjoying their set. You’d think that combining the sound of The Cure with harder, almost metal influences wouldn’t work but somehow, it did. My suspicions were confirmed when the lead singer mentioned that they were massive Cure fans and had jumped at the chance of supporting Fire In Cairo. I’ll be looking forward to hearing more from these guys in due course.

While waiting for FIC to take to the stage, I was joined at my table by some lovely ladies who had come to see the band. Huge Cure fans back in their teenage years, they were happy to regale me with their stories of forbidden trips to Cure gigs against their parent’s wishes and their love for the music which still endured today. Having never seen Fire In Cairo, they were a little sceptical but I reassured them they were in for a good night.

By now, Fibbers was filling up with black-clad bodies. At eleven o’clock, Fire in Cairo hit the stage to enthusiastic cheers and they kicked off with ‘Shake, Dog Shake’.

Fire In Cairo

Fire In Cairo have been performing for several years now and the Limerick-based band is one of the best Cure tribute bands there is. It’s almost spooky how much vocalist Niall sounds like Robert Smith. He’s got the look and the attitude down too…..right down to his white trainers. The band are well-rehearsed, polished, and can reproduce a wide range of the Cure’s back catalogue note for note. It’s the next best thing to seeing the Cure themselves and if you squint your eyes just right, you could almost be at a Cure gig.

My new friends were enjoying themselves hugely and commented over and over how good FIC were. It was also nice to see so many familiar faces from the Dublin goth scene too. A good turnout at a time that’s traditionally slow after Christmas.

Fire in Cairo played for a full two hours, turning out the big chart hits like ‘Just Like Heaven’, ‘Love Cats’ and ‘In Between Days’ along with lesser known songs such as ‘Primary’, ‘Jumping Someone Else’s Train’, ‘Charlotte Sometimes’ and more. Favourites from albums Faith, Pornography, Three Imaginary Boys, The Top, Disintegration and Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me were dusted off and given an airing, much to the enjoyment of the audience. The space in front of the stage was packed with happy dancers (myself included!) all baying for more when the band finished their set.

Obviously, FIC had been saving the best for last. The final encore was the fan favourite ‘A Forest’. Those haunting first chords, picked out by guitarist Manolis caused the hair on the back of my neck to stand up before the entire band launched into the song, sending the whole place into a frenzy. Then ending with a searing piece of guitar work that faded away to the sparsity of Lawson’s bass chords, it couldn’t have ended with any other song.

Grooving in green: Manolis

The Cure are still one of the best live bands around, and it’s a fitting tribute that Fire In Cairo play to a similar standard, giving their audience an experience that’s as close as you can get to a Cure gig without actually going to a Cure gig. Keep an eye out on FIC’s Facebook page for their next performance. I promise you won’t regret it.